The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Liz Throssell on Iran Executions in 2024
“Most of the executions last year were for drug-related offences, but dissidents and people connected to the 2022 protests were also executed. There was also a rise in the number of women executed,” she said.
“It is high time Iran stemmed this ever-swelling tide of executions,” the spokesperson said.
The UN Human Rights Office opposes the death penalty under all circumstances. It is incompatible with the fundamental right to life and raises the unacceptable risk of executing innocent people. “And to be clear, it can never be imposed for conduct that is protected under international human rights law,” Throssell said.
“We understand that at least 31 women were reportedly executed in 2024. Now, that marks the highest number in 15 years,” she said.
“The majority of cases involve charges of murder. A significant number of the women were victims of domestic violence, child marriage or forced marriage. A number of them were convicted of murdering their husbands.”
“The UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk urges the Iranian authorities to halt all further executions, and to place a moratorium on the use of the death penalty with a view to ultimately abolishing it. Some 170 States have either abolished the death penalty or imposed a moratorium on its use,” Throssell said.
END
In Geneva:
Ravina Shamdasani - + 41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org
Liz Throssell + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org
Jeremy Laurence - + 41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org
Thameen Al-Kheetan - + 41 76 223 77 62 / thameen.alkheetan@un.org
Tag and share - Twitter: @UNHumanRights and Facebook: unitednationshumanrights
STORY: UN Human Rights Spokesperson Liz Throssell on Iran Executions in 2024
TRT: 01:55
SOURCE: OHCHR / UNOG
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: English/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 07 January 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior shot : Palais des Nations
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Liz Throssell, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “We are deeply troubled by the marked increase in executions in Iran last year. At least 901 people were reportedly executed in 2024, including some 40 in one week alone in December. At least 853 people were executed in 2023.”
- Cut away: briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Liz Throssell, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “Most of the executions last year were for drug-related offences, but dissidents and people connected to the 2022 protests were also executed. There was also a rise in the number of women executed.”
- Cut away: briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Liz Throssell, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “It is high time Iran stemmed this ever-swelling tide of executions.”
- Cut away: briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Liz Throssell, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “And to be clear, it can never be imposed for conduct that is protected under international human rights law.”
- Cut away: briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Liz Throssell, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “We understand that at least 31 women were reportedly executed in 2024. Now, that marks the highest number in 15 years.
- Cut away: briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Liz Throssell, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “the majority of cases involve charges of murder. A significant, number of the women, were victims of domestic violence, child marriage or forced marriage. A number of them were convicted of murdering their husbands.”
- Cut away: briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Liz Throssell, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk urges the Iranian authorities to halt all further executions, and to place a moratorium on the use of the death penalty with a view to ultimately abolishing it. Some 170 States have either abolished the death penalty or imposed a moratorium on its use”
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday said it was “deeply concerned by the use of unlawful lethal force in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank”, as part of an ongoing Israeli military operation.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“We are deeply alarmed at the heightened risk of an attack by the M23 armed group on Goma, the capital of North Kivu, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo,” Ravina Shamdasani said.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNHCR
Intensifying hostilities in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo involving the non-state armed group M23 have caused further mass displacement in the mineral-rich region, with fears that the regional capital Goma could come under attack, UN agencies warned on Friday.
1
1
2
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
Aid is surging into Gaza “at scale” in line with the ceasefire agreement that has seen Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners released and families reunited, but massive needs remain across the devastated enclave, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
2
1
1
2
Edited News | WHO , OCHA , WMO
UN regrets US exit from global cooperation on health, climate change
UN agencies reacted with regret on Tuesday to the United States’ decisions to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris Agreement on climate change.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNOG
'Cabrini' film lead and Gomorrah star Cristiana Dell’Anna travelled to Geneva on Friday to highlight the age-old dangers confronting migrants – and the astonishing Italian missionary who travelled to New York City's slums at the turn of the last century, determined to protect them.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN warns of escalating danger for Sudanese civilians amid ethnic violence and war crimes.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO
UN health agency says 500 to 600 aid trucks a day could reach Gaza once ceasefire begins
Amid media reports that Israel’s Security Cabinet recommended the approval of a Gaza ceasefire on Friday, humanitarian aid agencies prepared to expand the flow of humanitarian aid assistance to Palestinians in the territory, devastated by 15 months of war.
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | OCHA , UNHCR
UN stands with people of Ukraine for the long term insists UN aid chief at humanitarian appeal launch in Kyiv
The embattled people of Ukraine and those forced abroad need $3.32 billion in lifesaving and sustained humanitarian assistance to help them cope as a fourth year of war looms after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, UN aid chiefs said on Thursday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Syria: Tragedy ‘at every step’ as millions of children face landmine threat – UNICEF
In Syria, landmines and other explosives left over from years of conflict present an ever more lethal threat to children, accounting for over 100 child deaths and injuries last month alone, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WMO , WHO
LA wildfires: Climate change made the disaster worse says WMO
The powerful dry winds and tinderbox conditions that have been fuelling the continuing Los Angeles wildfire tragedy have been made worse by climate change, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif on Wednesday updated the Human Rights Council on the human rights situation in Ukraine, outlining the findings of OHCHR’s latest periodic report covering 1st September to 30th November 2024.